Monday, January 25th: Robert Ford. Saving Nature and People: The Geotourism Approach

Bob is going to show us his world of helping to save nature and people using the geotourism approach. He will share his photography and information from numerous overseas adventures in helping to make the earth a better place to live.

Robert Ford has over 35 years experience as a photographer, professor, administrator, field researcher, development consultant, and conservation scientist. While doing field research on the Sahelian drought and famine of West Africa in the mid-1970s, he discovered that the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) linked to good photography were crucial in the task of documenting, understanding, and interpreting short and long-term change and the interactions between human society and the broader environment. He has become proficient in the use of social media for promoting positive change and policy development on a wide range of global sustainability issues.

I will focus particularly on work over the last five years in the Democratic Republic of Congo doing park rehabilitation and planning, as well as explaining my view of what "geotourism" is and how I use it in my work as a conservation scientist as well as fine art geotourism photographer. Here are a few select photos I will show that give a perspective on my talk:

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

In early April Karen and I drove to northern California for my 50th high school reunion (1964 > 2014) at Rio Lindo Adventist Academy located near Healdsburg California. You can see a Facebook ALBUM for some photos. Seeing old friends was bitter sweet--I found out my first roommate had died several years ago (so sad), while others seemed just the same...we found we could pick up just where we left off 50 years ago! That was nice. With Facebook we were able to share photos--some we had never seen before (see below one friends shared with me)--I'm the guy on far skyline with big ears! Next to me on the left is Tom Larson and others I know and some not.

Pastor Carl Becker drives some of us around campus (circa 1963-64)

OUR GRADUATING CLASS AT 50TH REUNION

Our class was the second class ever at Rio Lindo and we had more than half of the graduating class turnout....very nice! This coming weekend (Karen Storz Ford) my wife--will attend her 50th reunion at Monterey Bay Academy near Watsonville California. We are looking forward to another beautiful spring drive this time to Central California.

On our earlier trip to Rio we also took a day to bury Karen's parents ashes next to other family members in the community cemetery of St Helena, Napa Valley--these included some grand aunts and grandparents. And we spent a 1/2 day visiting Pacific Union College where we both went to after high school. The weather was beautiful and spring flowers out everywhere! We both graduated in 1968 and look forward to our 50th reunion there in four years. See the Facebook Album noted above for some photos from our trip to PUC and St Helena.

After our visit to Rio and PUC Karen flew from Oakland to spend a week with her sister back in Lincoln Nebraska and I spent an extra day doing photography along the Sonoma County coast and I gave a lecture at Sonoma State University near Santa Rosa (Rohnert Park) where I will be teaching in the Fall. And I visited my long time photography broker based near San Francisco. See SONOMA COAST FACEBOOK ALBUM - below is one of my favorite photos from the Sonoma coast.

A beautiful farm peeks out of the coastal fog near Bodega Bay Sonoma County

Well, come back for more from the Central California coast when we visit Monterey Bay California this coming weekend (April 25-27, 2014).

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Well, spring has finally arrived! The shrubs along our fenceline are in full bloom and the apple trees are also starting to burst out. A couple weeks ago the Globe Willows came out but they are always early. Today I had a great spring walk around our neighborhood and on "our place" (http://geobobford.com/myplace.html). During the last week I've been working around the yard planting some more plants in our "rock garden" and getting fields ready for the first irrigation of the season which begins a week from tomorrow.

Then we take off on a spring trip through the Great Basin of Nevada and onto California (Napa-Sonoma) and Healdsburg area for a 50th anniversary of my high school graduation and to visit colleagues at a local university--and of course to TAKE PICTURES. Here are a few photos from the last few days around Rockville and our place in Rockville Utah. Some of them were with old high school friends who were visiting from Oregon. Enjoy!

View to the South Mesa and our rock garden in Rockville Utah

Our new "yard art"--a horse that doesn't eat hay!

Another view of the front yard orchard, rock garden and South Mesa.

The road to Grafton Ghost town where we took our friends from Oregon.

Mt Kinesava in the background and Grafton Ghost Town across the fields.